Skating on Lake Ripple

Back when I was in third grade at the old Norris school in Grafton, Mass, me & my buddies would walk down Worcester St. to Lake Ripple for skating & pond hockey after school. No parents, no grownups - just us. The lake was about a mile long and fed by a small river coming in through a swampy area at the far end of the lake, away from where we played. We were told by grownups to stay away from the river at the other end of the lake, where the ice tended to be thinner and often broken with cracks and hidden thin ice. But being kids and all-wise at our tender age, we often headed up-lake after the games were over, daring each other in that way kids have, to get closer to danger.

The lake ice seemed almost alive at times, booming and snapping as it reacted to currents running in the icy water beneath or from pressure caused by the ice swelling & thickening. We all knew that should the ice crack & open up suddenly beneath us, we'd drop through and into the black icy water underneath. People drowned by falling through the ice!

The reason I'm bringing this all up is that we just got back from my semiannual cancer check up with my oncologist in Boston. This follows recent checks and lab work with my cardiologist, primary care doc, another CT scan, a recent ER visit & x-ray of my skull,  an examination & x-ray of my 8 year old fused left ankle and several Mohs surgery fun-visits with my dermatologist. In the last five years I've had X-rays, MRI scans, CT scans (with & without contrast dye injections), a complete ankle replacement, an intestinal blockage and subsequent cancer surgery, six staples in my head and more tests, injections and pills than I can remember.

As I get older, I sometimes feel like I'm skating on the far end of Lake Ripple again, heading deeper and deeper into the swamp towards the place where the ice gets dangerous. Every "boom" or "crack!" beneath my feet as I skate towards the far end seems to be more ominous. I used to go years without any medical cares; now the pace quickens.

So imagine my joy & relief to learn a few days ago that all my oncology tests were negative. Add to that the great recent feedback about my left ankle ("solid as a rock"), my head ("you've got the brain of a 20 year old"), heart & arteries ("clear of plaque") and my other vital internal systems (kidneys, prostate, liver, etc) and I'm feeling now that the ice under my life-skates is pretty solid right now.

I just wanted to share my experience and outlook with you. Heading off on my Camino journeys is fulfilling but sometimes out there away from all the usual safety nets of home, it can get a little scary!

Getting ready again!

Well, we're off again for another long walk in Spain. We leave in about two weeks for Madrid from Boston, flying on Iberia Airlines overnight, spending a few days there to decompress after the time change and then finding our way by train west to Ourence, a city in Gallicia in northwest Spain.  

The weather here in Maine has been drizzly, cold and just plain lousy for a couple of weeks and while I know that's good for the growing things, it's made our training hard to keep up. So while we're not nearly as "trained' as we have been in the past, we're hoping that all our walking and gym work over the past few years will give us some residual edge and that we're fit enough to handle this pilgrimage.

Joan has gotten her pack weight down to about 12 pounds, cutting stuff out ruthlessly. They say you pack stuff to protect against your worst fears and for Joan that's a lot of "what if" medical gear in case something breaks down on the road, most likely in me, seeing as how I'll be 82 years old this time out. For me, the "can leave home stuff" is fix-it gear for trekking poles, hiking boots and some cold weather clothes. I'll get my Osprey 33 pack down to about 13 pounds, plus water & daily lunches.

Just found out we're meeting up with Elaine, a dear friend from England, in Ourence and she will be walking the Camino Santabres with us into Santiago. That will be great. We last saw her in Georgia last month at the American Pilgrims on the Camino ("APOC") Gathering. That was a fun weekend, spent with about 175 other members on APOC, learning about the pilgrimage experience and renewing & making good friendships. We've found a new family ever since we starting our long-distance walking adventures.